Clean Eating...The Safe Way 🍏🍓🍐
Clean eating embraces whole foods like vegetables, fruits and whole grains. It also means cutting back on refined grains, added sugars, salt and unhealthy fats. Check out the following tips for safely eating clean :
Limit Processed Foods: Many processed foods contain excess sodium, sugar, and fat.
An easy way to clean up your diet is to look at the ingredient list on packaged foods. Try to pick something else if the list is long or includes lots of ingredients that you can’t pronounce.
Fresh vegetables & fruits are as clean as they come since they are unprocessed and come straight from the farm. However frozen is also a good option. Canned veggies are also better than none, but be sure to rinse off any extra salt used in the canning process.
Vegetables are low in calories and high in fiber, which helps you feel full and help your waist line. Fruits are also high in fiber and packed full of vitamins and minerals.
Swap those fats: Cut down on saturated fats, instead focus more on unsaturated and heart-healthy fats. Swap out saturated fats (like those in butter, cheese, and meat) for healthy fats like olive oil, nuts, and fatty fish. These fats are good for your heart and can help raise your good HDL cholesterol.
Try these simple swaps: top your salad with nuts instead of cheese, use peanut butter instead of cream cheese and replace mayonnaise with avocado on a sandwich.
To clean up your diet, cut down on added sugars in your diet by limiting sweets like soda & baked goods. Read labels to choose brands with less added sugar. To help minimize salt while you cook, flavor your food with herbs and spices, citrus and vinegar. Look for the word “whole” with the first ingredient in breads and pastas. Choose whole grains like quinoa, oats and brown rice. Eating clean doesn’t mean giving up on meat entirely, but eating less meat can help eliminate extra saturated fat from your diet. A serving of meat is just 3 oz (the size of a deck of cards) Try serving vegetarian proteins like beans, tempeh or tofu. Cutting out refined grains is an easy way to eat cleaner. Refined grains are more processed and often stripped of beneficial nutrients like magnesium, selenium, and fiber.